A simple teaching technique that helps students learn; now there’s something few teachers would pass up! This particular technique involves a four-question set that gets students actively responding to the material they are studying. They analyze, reflect, relate, and question via these four prompts:

Mind mapping is a method that works for quite a lot of people. Brain storming, idea mapping, thought generation, think tanks – call it what you will. Traditionally done on large pieces of paper, why not use your iPad to create mind maps? You could use these for your own purposes, or “convert” those large flip charts into a smaller, digital version.

The best device a school can roll out is a teacher who can adapt to new and emerging technologies, does not always require formal training for learning and staying current, and is not tethered to a product in order to teach.

I am really feeling this as my iPods are already becoming obsolete. How do we use tech to create producers, not just consumers? Does it make a better reader or writer? That is what I ponder when I look at a new device or app.

Yes yes yes! Why do many teacher-librarians persist in demanding that their PD always take place during school hours? If you want to develop YOURSELF professionally, shouldn't you be taking every opportunity you can afford? If you can read a tabloid in your own time, you can find time to read a professional journal too - simple things can make a huge difference! Manage your own professional development, don't expect your school or your union to do it for you! Good teachers and librarians are learning all the time, and sharing their learning - with colleagues and with students.

This article pertains to the issue of how social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter have such great impact on the 21st Century that we're living in. This article also presents the positive aspects of such influence such as diminishing distance and facillitating effective communtication.

Commentary:

As cliche as this may sound, I do subscribe to the notion that social media is a double edged sword. While it could be used to compliment business transactions and strengthen relationships, it could also bring about adverse impacts. With social media, it is inevitable that some users would abuse it by viewing inappropriate sites. Social media could also encourage the act of cyber bullying, which would cause emotional stress to some Internet users.

However, to say that social media is entirely wrong and vile is a biased and hypocritical statement since we ourselves use and frequent them. The pivotal issue is that people of the 21st Century must exercise self responsibility and be cautious of their online conduct. This way, Social Media would be able to achieve it's noble aim of integrating the human race.

Going to use this with my 8th graders as a writing warm up activity. Many of my students get frustrated writing longer pieces, this will be a way to write short meaningful text in a game format. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

"Each of these eleven tools are considered essential elements one needs to master a subject. For example, chemists need to understand the language of a chemist, the different points of view of in chemistry, the rules that govern chemistry, the ethical decisions chemists face, etc. Likewise, a master of chess would be an expert in the language of chess, the patterns of chess games, the rules to follow, and the way the game has changed over time.

When students think using these tools, they learn to approach subjects from the point of view of an expert."

How do I introduce mind maps to my class and school?Mind mapping can be used for all levels of education and it is a great tool for both teachers and students alike. School's that implement technology such as this encourages the sharing of ideas between teachers, classes and grade levels providing a more rounded education...

Helpful tips for using mind mapping in class. The post explains what mind mapping is and gives suggestions what you can use mind maps for. The author lists benefits of using this technique in teaching.

Teaching Students Better Online Research Skills Education Week News In November 2012, the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project released a study that surveyed 2,067 Advanced Placement and National Writing Project teachers.

Download Free PowerPoint Templates and backgrounds for your presentations. This is a free collection of themes for Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and 2010 that you can download to make better presentations with unique styles and effects.

Amy Jo Martin: "According to a recent study, 78% of parents helped create their children’s Facebook pages, and 7.5 million users are under the age of 13. The way your kids use social today will shape their future. It's time for everyone to get educated on how--and how not--to live online."

Building brands is a lot like leaving legacies. What does it mean? Do we have the luxury of thinking we have that much control or will there be features that allow us to be dishonest with brand building?

Boy are these kids going to be mad at their parents by the time they're 20-somethings... "Why didn't you protect us?" they will ask. "Because we didn't know better," their parents will say.

Putting a kid on the internet without knowing anything about how cookies and cache and logins and TOSs work is like handing them a handgun or putting them behind the wheel of a running car and then leaving.

Just downloaded this free app, I am thinking of using this with my 8th grade reluctant writers. This is a tech version of build a story activity, but gamified. Seems like a great warm up writing activity or a way to build that concept of story structure in a small space.

Post its were designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces but nowadays this concept has been spread among many different sectors, topics and interests. In computers and IT, post its can also be represented as images and using shapes in PowerPoint is a good way to represent post it in a slide and then save them as picture.

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.